TEHRAN: Students protested in Tehran on Saturday in a third day of demonstrations sparked by anger over Iran’s economic problems, videos on social media showed, but were outnumbered by counter-demonstrators.
The pro-regime students shouted “Death to the seditionists” as they seized back control of the entrance of the University of Tehran, videos published by several local news agencies showed.
Later in the day, pro-reform news agency ILNA quoted a ministry of science official as saying that the students were eventually able to leave the university in buses.
“During the afternoon’s protests three students from the University of Tehran were arrested and, based on our information, two of them have been released,” the official said.
It followed a protest by several dozen students, with videos on social media showing scuffles with police and chants against the regime.
“The opportunists who wanted to benefit from the situation have been dispersed with the arrival of (the other) students,” the conservative-linked Tasnim news agency reported.
Mehr news agency said 300 to 400 protesters were still around the university, causing the closure of nearby streets and heavy traffic congestion.
The numbers appeared to be smaller than demonstrations seen across other major towns and cities on Thursday and Friday, which had been sparked by high living costs but quickly turned against the regime as a whole.
The conservative-linked Fars news agency said “harsh chants” were heard at the Tehran protests and that riot police had been dispatched to the scene.
“Unlike other protests in various cities which were against the economic situation and high prices, the one in front of the University of Tehran was political,” Fars said.
The students repeated a popular chant of “Not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life for Iran” — an expression of anger over claims the government is focusing more on regional issues than problems at home.
Competing agitations at Tehran university
Competing agitations at Tehran university
The art of war: fears for masterpieces on loan to Louvre Abu Dhabi
- UAE paid more than €1 billion to borrow priceless works, but experts in France want them back
PARIS: The Middle East war has raised fears for the safety of priceless masterpieces on loan from France to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the museum’s only foreign branch.
The Abu Dhabi museum, which opened in 2017, has so far escaped damage from nearly 1,800 Iranian drone and missile strikes launched since the conflict erupted on Feb. 28.
However, concerns are mounting in France. “The works must be removed,” said Didier Selles, who helped broker the original agreement between France and the UAE.
French journal La Tribune de l’Art echoed that alarm. “The Louvre’s works in Abu Dhabi must be secured!” it said.
France’s culture ministry said French authorities were “in close and regular contact with the authorities of the UAE to ensure the protection of the works loaned by France.”
Under the agreement with the UAE, France agreed to provide expertise, lend works of art and organize exhibitions, in return for €1 billion, including €400 million for licensing the use of the Louvre name. The deal was extended in 2021 to 2047 for an additional €165 million.
Works on loan include paintings by Rembrandt and Chardin, Classical statues of Isis, Roman sarcophagi and Islamic masterpieces: such as the Pyxis of Al-Mughira.
A Louvre Abu Dhabi source said the museum was designed to protect collections from both security threats and natural disasters.
